By Debbie Gregory.

Lauren Hope is the owner, designer, and artisan of Hope Design Ltd. What sets Hope’s hand-crafted jewelry and accessories apart from her competitors is that her creations honor our country’s service members.

Hope is a self-described “military history nerd” who has transformed her interest in vintage buttons and insignias into custom-made cuff links, tie clips, earrings, necklaces, and brooches.

The wife of a soldier and the mother of two boys has found that creating jewelry provides an oasis of sanity in her unpredictable military life. It was also she was able to do in the evenings after her children had gone to bed.

Hope’s entrepreneurial spirit led her to launch her website, HopeDesignLtd.com, one outlet where her creations can be purchased. She also has an Etsy shop. Her designs can also be found at gift shops that support the military-spouse community, including R. Riveter, West Point Spouses’ Club, and Bragg’s Unique Boutique.

Hope treasures the “sweetheart jewelry,” pieces she finds that she is able to restore. These pieces were originally purchased by World War II servicemen for girlfriends and wives back home. Those who served in World War II “are a passing generation, and their stories are being lost,” she says. “I collect and restore those pieces so I can keep the stories alive for the military community.”

Hope also makes poignant jewelry for Gold Star Families who want to wear something from their loved one’s uniform to feel closer to them.

“Each piece has its own story and its own meaning, and when I can know the person in the military community it goes out to, it makes my heart happy,” she says. “Especially with the Gold Star Families I work with, I feel like I’m helping that person be remembered. The sense of pride that these pieces are worn with is not lost on me.”

Hope has also put her energy into building the #ShopMilitary initiative to help other military spouse and veteran entrepreneurs manage their own businesses and find their target markets.

The ShopMilitary.org website compiles and links to businesses participating in the effort. By strengthening military spouses’ abilities to build careers can contribute to higher military retention rates.

“For people who want to support the military, this is a much more effective thing to do than putting a sign in your yard,” Hope says.